US: Death Toll from Hurricane Milton Increases to 14

Washington DC, October 11:
Another death has been recorded in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, bringing the death toll from Hurricane Milton to at least fourteen.While assisting with hurricane cleanup, a woman in her late seventies was killed when a huge branch from a nearby tree crushed her. According to a press release from the city, this incident took place just after 11:00 am ET on Thursday.

"Although the storm has passed, its devastation has tragically taken the life of one of our community members," stated Lee Bercaw, chief of the Tampa Police Department. "Our thoughts are with the family as they grieve their loved one."

Across Florida, almost 2.9 million utility customers had power outages. Originally a Category 5 hurricane, the storm was downgraded to a Category 3 when it made landfall, according to Al Jazeera.

According to Sheriff Keith Pearson of St. Lucie County, who spoke with CNN, twenty-five individuals have been evacuated from a mobile home park where six people perished.

According to Pearson, crews are sifting through the debris of destroyed homes in an effort to locate additional individuals, however officials have not yet provided an exact number of individuals they are seeking. However, it is challenging due to the search conditions.

In the midst of Hurricane Milton, US President Joe Biden echoed the call for safety.

A message to all those affected by Hurricane Milton: Please remain indoors and away from the roadways was shared by him in a post he made on X. Hazardous circumstances have been exacerbated by fallen power lines, debris, and road washouts. Until assistance arrives, remain indoors until the local authorities give the all-clear signal.

"Looking out for one another, first responders, friends, families, and neighbors have shown incredible courage as these past days have been difficult," he wrote in another post. We are here to support everyone who has been affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

According to CBS News, citing GasBuddy, as of Wednesday morning, just over 23% of gas stations in Florida were low on fuel. In the Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg area, that number rose to over 59%. Since Tuesday night, those figures had been on the rise.

There were previously hurricane and storm surge warnings for many of the same cities, and now there are tornado alerts as well.